On behalf of the Obama administration, it’s my pleasure to welcome
all of you today.

I’d like to offer a special welcome to Connecticut Governor
Dan Malloy, who will be speaking shortly.

I’d also like to recognize the hosts for this conference: the
Commerce Department’s U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Economic Development
Agency, The Brookings Institution and the Clean Energy Group.

And last, I’d like to thank this prestigious assembly of
policy and industry experts on clean energy for lending your expertise to this
meeting.

No pressure,
but we’re expecting some viable proposals for more effectively developing and
supporting innovative clean energy industries by the end of the day.

Why the
hurry?

Because as
President Obama said when he released his Blueprint
for a Secure Energy Future in March,
“. . . the countries that lead the 21st century clean energy economy will
be the countries that lead the 21st century global economy.”

We want America
to be that nation. We want America
to win the future.

As we recover from this recession,
the transition to clean energy has the potential to create economic growth and millions
of jobs – but we need to accelerate that transition … we need to seize the moment.

It builds on the progress the administration has made over
the past two years.

Early in his presidency, President Obama called on
the United States to double its production of renewable energy by 2012–to
enhance U.S.
national security and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, but also to help foster job growth in the fast-growing clean
energy sector.

The president’s Recovery Act included more than $90 billion
in clean energy investment–the single largest clean energy investment in
American history.

This funding supported programs that created over 224,000
American jobs and tens of thousands of domestic renewable energy technology
projects.

We cast a wide net–promoting everything from advanced wind
turbines and solar panels to new battery technologies and the modernization of
our electricity grid.

These clean energy investments have put the U.S. on track to reach the president’s goal and double clean energy generation from 2008 levels by next
year, creating enormous benefits for public health and the environment.

Additionally, working with the automotive industry, we set
tough new fuel economy standards for model 2012-2016 vehicles that will save 1.8
billion barrels of oil.

And recently, we proposed the first-ever fuel efficiency
standards for heavy-duty trucks.

This, simply, is the top priority for President Obama and
this administration.

It’s not without risk, of course. When it comes to investing
in some of the most innovative companies in the world, there will always be an element of risk. In a
fast-evolving and incredibly competitive industry, no one should expect we’re
going to bat a thousand. But the alternative, ceding the industry–and the
jobs that come with it–to the rest of the world, would be unforgivable. This administration will maintain its
commitment to expanding the production of renewable energies, and we have no
intention of slowing down any time soon.

But it’s difficult for clean energy businesses to thrive–it’s difficult for any business to thrive–if they’re worried about whether or
not there are going to be enough consumers who want to buy their products and
services.

That is why earlier this month President Obama released his
American Jobs Act.

This plan, which we hope Congress passes without delay, would
provide a significant new tax cut for small businesses–and that describes the
vast majority of firms in the clean energy sector. It will cut the payroll tax
in half on the first $5 million of wages paid by a company. And it provides a 100 percent payroll tax
holiday on any new hiring or increased wages paid to existing employees. This gives incentives, particularly to small
businesses, to innovate, to hire new workers, and to grow.

Additionally, the Jobs Act extends the 100 percent expensing for
capital expenditures into 2012, continuing an historic incentive for new
capital investments.

The legislation would also empower states with new
flexibility to allow out-of-work Americans to continue receiving unemployment
benefits while they apprentice or take internships that will help them get the on-the-job
training they need to learn the skills green-tech industries are looking for.

Importantly, the payroll tax cut proposed by the president
would put more money in the pockets of American consumers, by also reducing
payroll taxes paid by workers. The
average American family will have $1,500 to spend under the president’s plan
that would otherwise be paid in taxes.
This will spur consumer spending and give businesses more certainty
about stronger demand.

We believe these measures and others in the Jobs Act,
including the president’s proposal to modernize America’s schools and retrofit them
with energy efficiency upgrades, can help a private sector in need of a little
boost and put more people to work–and we eagerly await their passage through
Congress.

But at the same
time we’re focused on getting more Americans back on the job in the near term,
we’re also looking to rebuild America’s
economic foundation and create the conditions for long-term economic growth.

Clean
energy is a big part of that.

At
Commerce, we continue to aggressively support entrepreneurs all across America
who are developing clean energy and energy-efficiency technologies.

First, the largest potential markets for clean energy technologies
lie outside the U.S. Global investment in clean energy totaled
over $240 billion in 2010.

We want innovative U.S.
companies to be at the forefront of delivering green products and services.

To that end, we’ve launched the
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative, with an online
exporters guide and website, export.gov/REEE,
to help green energy companies find new global markets.

As part of this initiative, we’re
co-chairing with the Department of Energy, a multi-agency effort aimed at
addressing the major export barriers facing U.S. renewable energy and energy
efficiency businesses.

For example, because financing can
be a significant obstacle, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency have teamed
up to produce new financing products specific to this sector.

The
export program also fits squarely into Commerce’s leadership role in
implementing President Obama’s National Export Initiative. The NEI was announced in 2010 and aims to
double U.S.
exports by 2015, in support of millions of American jobs.

Second, America gets about one-fifth of its
electricity from nuclear energy. At
Commerce, we’re supporting the U.S.
nuclear industry’s endeavors to rebuild its manufacturing base. We’re also working with them to identify the
industry’s most pressing trade challenges and coordinating efforts to address
them.

Third, in
2010, we obligated $26.9 million through the Global Climate Change Mitigation
Incentive Fund to support renewable energy, energy efficiency and other
projects that help advance the green economy, such as regional economic
clusters.

Fourth,
through our Green Technology Pilot Program, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has
accelerated hundreds of patent applications for green inventions. Earlier
patenting of these technologies can help inventors secure funding, create new
businesses and the jobs that come with them, and bring vital green technologies
to market much sooner.

And finally, our
country's way of life depends on an efficient electric power distribution
system. Developing a smart grid is a top priority of this administration.

Working with the private sector, Commerce's National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing standards for a 21st century
smart grid that incorporates advanced technologies to achieve unprecedented
efficiency, reliability and safety.

These standards facilitate useful interactions so
that, for example, "smart" appliances and "smart meters"
will tell consumers how much power they are using and at what cost.

These standards will also encourage the
development of the infrastructure that will enable the widespread use of
plug-in electric vehicles and increase the deployment of clean energy to power
homes and businesses.

After consultation with some 600 organizations, NIST identified requirements for smart grid interoperability and security and rolled
out Version 1.0 of the Interoperability Framework. And Version 2.0 is on its way.

I’ll close with this. Energy
policy is a central and complex subject–the one issue that affects virtually
every other, from our economy to our environment to our security.

Today China
and Germany
both invest more in clean energy than we do, even though we are a larger
economy and a substantially larger user of energy.

Leading the world in clean energy is critical to
strengthening the American economy and improving national security. We must produce the next generation of
technologies.

We have the workers and the will to ensure that happens.

As President Obama said, we boast one critical, renewable
resource that the rest of the world cannot match: American ingenuity. American know-how.

We just need to put it to work.

The alternative is to cede that ground to another country, to
let someone else lead, to hope for the best while other nations make national
commitments to inventing the energy sources and energy technologies of the
future.

That’s not the attitude that made America great. That’s not a posture
this administration accepts.